“The problem of Edi Rama with me started when he saw that he was losing the Municipality of Himara,” says the New Democracy MEP, Fredi Beleris, to protothema.gr.

We met him at the seat of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, as these days the last Plenary for 2024 is taking place. As he said, referring to his relationship with the Albanian Prime Minister, it was formal, without traces of confrontation, something that changed until Mr. Rama saw the polls. “In fact, he himself had said 3-4 months before the elections that he had no issue with my candidacy,” he noted, adding that Mr. Rama then began undermining his candidacy with various slanders. “It wasn’t something personal,” he stressed, saying that “no matter how much it bothers him, that is my homeland, my family, half of my life, and I will continue to engage,” he said.

Answering a question about whether Albania’s problems would be solved if Edi Rama were no longer part of the equation in the future, Mr. Beleris clarified that these problems cannot be solved overnight. As he said, after the fall of the dictatorship, Albania has had a hybrid democracy for 34 years. “What I can say with certainty is that since 1990, the worst Prime Minister in Albania has been Mr. Rama,” he pointedly stated.

Providing examples, Mr. Beleris noted among other things that, despite the fact that Albania is a candidate country for EU accession, in 2023, the leading group of asylum seekers in EU countries are Albanian citizens, while the former president and prime minister, Ilir Meta, is in prison, and Sali Berisha has been released. “Can we say that this country is normal?” he wondered.

 Speaking about the outgoing European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, Mr. Beleris said that she has criticized Greece for its handling of migration without evidence, while noting that she did not intervene even once in his case and the violation of his basic human rights in Albania. “She is obviously captive to her ideological fixations,” Mr. Beleris remarked pointedly.

Commenting on the reactions provoked by an amendment co-signed by SYRIZA MEP, Mr. Nikos Pappas, regarding Greece’s role in the tragic shipwreck off Pylos in 2023, Mr. Beleris noted that the annual report of the Ombudsman has no reference to our country, but “unfortunately, the Greens and some MEPs submitted an amendment asking that the responsibilities of Frontex and Greece be explicitly mentioned.” He also said, “It is sad that SYRIZA, such a large and serious issue with global dimensions, limits it to the responsibilities of Greece and of any government.” On this matter, he further noted that there are over 1 billion people who would like to live in the EU, but with a population of 450 million, they cannot be absorbed.

Mr. Beleris said that in the six months he has been an MEP, he has seen that there are many tools in the European Union for issues of minorities, such as the Greek minority in Albania. “I have received many complaints, as vice-chairman of the relevant Committee, from citizens about violations of property rights, the right to self-identification, and even the non-return of property to the Autocephalous Church of Albania. I will try to organize a visit of the Petitions Committee, so they can see these problems on the ground,” he emphasized.

Continuing, he pointed out that after efforts by the Greek government, in the agreement linking Greece and Albania, in the document of the 27, three key issues concerning the Greek national minority are described for the first time. “By 31/12, Albania must pass the three regulatory laws pending since 2017 regarding the right to self-identification, the use of language in Public Administration, and the representation of minorities. Also, with a clear timeline, the “thorn” of property issues is outlined. By 2028, the registration of these properties must be completed, and by 2030, they must be returned to all citizens,” he noted.

Finally, speaking about the demographic issue, he referred to his recent visit to the village of Fourna in Evrytania, saying that significant efforts are being made to increase the population, without this meaning that the problem has been solved. “Politics has the responsibility to facilitate those who want to return to rural areas because the demographic issue will concern us far beyond the next decade,” he concluded.